lSPEECH 


HON.  THOMAS   A.  JENCKES, 


OF    RHODE    ISLAND, 


THE  BILL  TO  REGULATE  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  OF  TnE  UNITED  STATES  AND  PRO- 
MOTE THE  EFFICIENCY  THEREOF ; 


DELIVERED 


IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES 


MAY  11,  1868. 


WASHINGTON: 
F.  &  J.  RIVES  &  GEO.  A.  BAILEY. 

REPORTERS    AXD    PRINTERS    OK   T!!K    DEB  ATM    OF    CON'ORESS. 

18C 


'V 


Aavaari  escd 


SPEECH. 


Mr.  Jenckes,  from  the  joint  select  Com- 
mittee on  Retrenchment,  reported  the  follow- 
ing bill : 

A  bill  to  regulate  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States 
and  promote  the  efficiency  thereof. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  Unit  d  States  of  America  in  Congress  assem- 
bled, That  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act 
there  shall  be  created  a  new  department  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  to  be  called  the  depart- 
ment of  the  civil  service;  that  the  head  of  said 
department  shall  bo  the  Vice  President  of  theUnitcd 
States,  or  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  said  office,  the 
President  of  the  Senate  for  the  time  being,  who  shall 
be  a  member  and  president  of  the  board  of  commis- 
sioners hereinafter  created,  and  shall  perform  all  the 
duties  pertaining  thereto. 

BBC.  -.  .1/'''  I"  it  farther  enacted.  That  hereafter  all 
appointments  of  civil  officers  in  the  several  Depart- 
ments of  the  service  of  the  United  States,  except 
postmasters  and  gnch  officers  as  are  or  may  be  by  law 
required  to  be  appointed  by  the  President  by  and  with 
[vice  and  consent,  of  the  Senate,  shall  be  made 
from  those  persons  who  shall  have  been  found  best 
qualified  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  the 
offices  to  which  such  appointments  are  to  be  made, 
in  open  .and  competitive  examinations,  to  be  con- 
ducted as  herein  prescribed. 

Sko.3.  Andbeit further enacted,  That  there  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  a  board  of  four  commis- 
sioners, who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  the  term  of 
five  years,  to  bo  called  the  civil  service  examination 
board,  among  whoso  duties  shall  be  the  following: 

Fit       l  the  qualifications  requisite  for 

nn  appointment  into  each  branch  and  grade  of  the 
civil  service  of  the  United  States,  having  regard  to 
the  fitness  of  each  candidate  in  respect  to  age,  health, 
character,  knowledge,  and  ability  for  the  branch  of 
into  which  he  seeks  to  enter. 

Second.  To  provide  for  the  examinations  and  prp 
riods  and  conditions  of  probation  of  all  persons  eli- 
gible under  this  act  who  may  present  themselves  for 
admission  into  the  civil  service. 

Third.  To  establish  rules  governing  the  applica- 
tions of  Buch  persons,  the  times  and  places  of  their 
examinations,  the  subjects  upon  which  such  exam- 
inations shall  be  had.  with  other  incidents  thereof, 
and  the  mode  of  conducting  the  same,  ami  the  man- 
ner of  keeping  and  preserving  the  records  thereof, 
and  of  perpetuating  the  evidence  of  such  applica- 
tions, qualifications,  examinations,  probations,  and 
their  result,  as  they  shall  think  expedient.  Such 
rules  shall  be  so  framed  as  to  keep  the  branches  of 
the  civil  service  and  the  different  grades  of  each 
bran  eh,  as  also  the  records  applicable  to  each  branch, 
distinct  and  separate.  The  said  board  shall  divide 
the  country  into  territorial  districts  for  the  purpose 
of  holding  examinations  of  applicants  resident  therein 


and  others,  and  shall  designate  some  convenient  and 
ible  place  in  each  district  where  examinations 
shall  beheld. 

Fourth.  To  examine  personally,  or  by  persons  by 
them  specially  designated,  the  applicants  for  ap- 
pointment into  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States. 

Fifth.  To  make  report  of  all  rules  and  regulations 
established  by  them,  and  of  a  summary  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, including  an  abstract  of  their  examina- 
tions for  tho  different  branches  of  the  service,  annu- 
ally, to  Congress  at  the  opening  of  each  session. 

Skc.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  all  appoint- 
ments to  the  civil  service  provided  for  in  this  act 
shall  be  made  from  those  who  have  passed  the  re- 
quired examinations  and  probations  in  the  following 
order  and  manner: 

First.  The  applicant  who  stands  highest  in  order 
of  merit  on  the  list  of  those  who  have  passed  tbo 
examination  and  probation  for  any  particular  branch 
and  grade  of  the  civil  service  shall  have  the  prefer- 
ence in  appointment  to  that  branch  and  grade,  and 
so  on,  in  the  order  of  precedence  in  examinations 
and  merit  during  probation  to  the  minimum  degree 
of  merit  lixed  by  the  board  for  such  grade. 

Second.  Whenever  any  vacancy  shall  occur  in  any 
grade  of  tho  civil  service  above  the  lowest,  in  any 
branch,  the  senior  in  the  next  lower  grade  may  be 
appointed  to  nil  the  same,  or  a  new  examination 
for  that  particular  vacancy  may  bo  ordered,  under 
the  direction  of  thedepartment,  of  those  in  the  next^ 
lower  grade,  and  the  person  found  best  qualified 
shall  be  entitled  to  the  appointment  to  till  such 
vacancy :  Provided,  Thatno  person  now  in  office  shall 
be  promoted  or  transferred  from  a  lower  to  a  higher 
grade  unless  he  shall  have  passed  at  least  one  ex- 
amination under  this  act. 

Third.  The  right  of  seniority  shall  be  determined 
by  the  rank  of  merit  assigned  by  the  board  upon  the 
examinations,  having  regard  also  to  seniority  in  ser- 
bul  it  shall  at  all  times  be  in  the  power  of  the 
beads  of  Departments  to  order  new  examinations, 
which  shall  he  conducted  by  tho  board,  upon  duo 
notice,  and  according  to  fixed  rules,  and  which  shall 
(let  ermine  seniority  with  regard  to  the  persons  ordered 
examined,  or  in  the  particular  branch  and  grade 
oftheservice  to  which  such  examinations  shall  apply. 
//.  Said  hoard  shall  have  power  to  establish 
rules  for  such  special  examinations,  and  also  rules  by 
which  any  persons  exhibiting  particularmeritin  any 
branch  of  the  civil  service  may  be  advanced  one  or 
more  points  in  their  respective  grades;  and  one- 
fourth  of  the  promotions  may  be  madeon  account  of 
merit,  irrespective  of  seniority  in  service,  such  merit 
to  be  ascertained  by  special  examinations,  or  by  ad- 
vancement for  meritorious  services  and  Special  fitn<  ss 
for  the  particular  branch  of  service,  according  to 
rule-;  to  he  established  as  aforesaid. 

,   i.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  said  board 
vrer  to  prescribe  a  fee.  not  exce<  1- 
ing  five  dollars,  to  be  paid  by  each  applicant  for  ex- 
amination, and  also  a  fee  not  exceeding  ten  dolla:  -, 


to  be  paid  by  each  person  who  shall  receive  a  certifi- 
cate of  recommendation  for  appointment  or  for  pro- 
motion, or  of  seniority,  which  foes  shall  be  first  paid 
to  the  collector  of  internal  revenue  in  the  district 
where  the  applicant  or  officer  resides  or  may  be  ex- 
amined, to  be  accounted  for  and  paid  into  the  Treas- 
ury of  the  United  States  by  such  collector;  and  the 
certificates  of  payment  of  fees  to  collectors  shall  be 
fii- warded  quarterly  by  the  commissioners  to  the 
Treasury  Department. 

8kc.  0.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  said  board 
shall  have  power  to  prescribe,  by  general  rules,  what 
misconduct  or  inefficiency  shall  be  sufficient  for  the 
removal  or  suspension  of  all  officers  who  come  within 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and- also  to  establish  rules 
for  the  mannerof  preferring  charges  for  such  miscon- 
duct or  inefficiency,  and  for  the  trial  of  the  accused, 
and  for  determining  his  position  pending  such  trial. 

Sec.  7.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  any  one  of 
said  commissioners  may  conduct  or  superintend  any 
examinations,  and  the  board  may  call  to  their  assist- 
ance in  such  examinations  such  men  of  learning  and 
high  character  as  they  may  think  fit,  or,  in  their  dis- 
cretion, such  officers  in  the  civil,  military,  or  naval 
gervice  of  the  United  States,  as  maybe  designated 
from  time  to  time,  on  application  of  the  board,  as 
assistants  to  said  board,  by  the  President  or  heads  of 
Departments;  and  in  special  cases,  to  be  fixed  by 
rules  or  by  resolutions  of  the  board,  they  may  dele- 
gate examinations  to  such  persons,  to  be  attended 
and  presided  over  by  one  member  of  said  board,  or 
by  some  person  specially  designated  to  preside. 

Sec.  8.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said 
board  may  also,  upon  reasonable  notice  to  the  person 
accused,  hear  and  determine  any  case  of  alleged  mis- 
conduct or  inefficiency,  under  the  general  rules  herein 
provided  for,  and  in  such  case  shall  report  to  the 
head  of  the  proper  Department  their  finding  in  the 
matter,  and  may  recommend  the  suspension  or  dis- 
missal from  office  of  any  person  found  guilty  of  such 
misconduct  or  inefficiency;  and  such  person  shall  be 
forthwith  suspended  or  dismissed  by  the  head  of  such 
Department  pursuant  to  such  recommendation,  and 
from  the  filing  of  such  report  shall  receive  no  com- 
pensation for  official  service  except  from  and  after 
tho  expiration  of  any  term  of  suspension  recom- 
mended by  such  report. 

Sec.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  salary 
of  each  of  said  commissioners,  and  tho  additional 
salary  of  the  Vice  President  for  performing  the  duties 
required  of  him  by  this  act  shall  be  $5,000  a  year, 
and  the  said  board  may  appoint  a  clerk  at  a  salary 
of  $2,500  a  year,  and  a  messenger  at  a  salary  of  $900 
4  a  year,  and  these  sums  and  the  necessary  traveling 
expenses  of  the  commissioners,  clerk,  and  messenger 
to  be  accounted  for  in  detail  and  verified  by  affidavit, 
shall  be  paid  from  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated.  The  necessary  expenses  of 
any  person  employed  by  said  commissioners,  as  as- 
sistants, to  be  accountedfor  and  verified  in  likeman- 
ner,  and  certified  by  the  board,  shall  also  be  paid  in 
like  manner. 

Sec.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  any  officer 
in  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States,  at  the  date 
of  the  passage  of  this  act,  other  than  those  excepted 
in  the  second  sect  ion  of  this  act,  may  be  required  by  the 
head  of  the  Department  in  which  he  serves  to  appear 
before  said  board,  and  if  found  not  qualified  for  the 
place  he  occupies  he  shall  be  reported  for  dismissal, 
and  be  dismissed  in  the  manner  hereinbefore  pro- 
vided, and  the  vacancy  shall  be  filled  in  manner 
aforesaid  from  those  who  may  be  found  qualified  for 
such  grade  of  office  after  such  examination. 

Sec.  11.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  citizens' 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  eligible  to  examination 
and  appointment  under  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
and  the  heads  of  the  several  Departments  may,  in 
their  discretion,  designate  the  offices  in  the  several 
branches  of  the  civil  s-rvice  the  dutiesof  which  may 
be  performed  by  females  as  well  as  males,  and  for  all 
such  offices  females  as  well  as  malesshall  be  eligible, 
and  may  mike  application  therefor  and  be  exam- 
ined, recommended,  appointed,  tried,  suspended, 
and  dismissed  in  manner  aforesaid;  and  the  names 
of  those  recommended  by  the  examiners  shall   be 


placed  upon  the  lists  for  appointment  and  promotion 
in  the  order  of  their  merit  and  seniority,  and  with- 
out distinction,  other  than  as  aforesaid,  from  those 
of  male  applicants  or  officers. 

Sec.  12.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the  Presi- 
dent, and  also'the  Senate,  may  require  any  person 
applying  for  or  recommended  for  any  office  which 
requires  confirmation  by  the  Senate  to  appear  before 
said  board  and  be  examined  as  to  his  qualifications, 
either  before  or  after  being  commissioned;  and  the 
result  of  such  examination  shall  be  reported  to  the 
President  and  to  the  Senate. 

Sec.  13.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  until  the 
confirmation  by  the  Senate  of  the  commissioners 
authorized  to  be  appointed  by  this  act,  the  head  of 
said  Department  is  hereby  authorized  to  appoint 
persons  to  perform  the  duties  of  commissioners  tem- 
porarily, with  the  same  powers  and  at  the  same  rate 
of  compensation  as  hereinbefore  provided. 

Mr.  JENCKES  said:  The  proposition  sub- 
mitted to  the  House  by  the  bill  now  reported 
is,  in  effect,  that  the  Government  shall  adopt 
better  means  than  it  now  uses  for  obtaining  the 
services,  in  its  subordinate  offices,  of  the  best 
talent  it  can  obtain  for  the  money  it  pays. 
The  number  of  persons  now  employed  by  the 
Government  in  its  civil  service  as  officers  ex- 
ceeds not  only  the  whole  number  of  officers  in 
the  military  and  naval  service,  but  also  the 
total  of  the  rank  and  file  of  both  the  warlike 
services.  To  these  persons  is  intrusted  the 
entire  administrative  business  of  the  Govern- 
ment; they  are  the  eyes  and  the  hands  of 
every  branch  of  the  service ;  they  constitute 
the  whole  clerical  force  of  the  executive  and  ad- 
ministrative departments,  the  agencies  through 
which  the  public  lands  are  disposed  of  and  the 
Indian  affairs  are  managed;  the  commercial 
intercourse  with  foreign  nations  regulated ; 
the  execution  of  the  postal  system  conducted. 
They  control  the  issuing  of  pensions,  patents, 
and  land  warrants ;  the  examination  and  allow- 
ance or  rejection  of  all  accounts  or  claims 
against  the  Government;  the  collection  and 
disbursement  of  all  the  revenues  and  public 
moneys.  There  are  responsible  heads  to  all 
these  Departments,  and  chiefs  of  bureaus  and 
of  divisions  responsible  to  the  heads  of  Depart- 
ments; but  the  work  is  done  by  the  "inferior 
officers,"  and  the  responsible  heads  and  chiefs 
seldom  do  more  than  adopt  the  acts  and  ratify 
the  examinations  and  conclusions  of  their  sub- 
ordinates. 

SCOPE  OP  THE  MEASURE. 

When  we  consider  the  great  number  of  these 
officers,  the  magnitude  of  the  affairs  intrusted 
to  their  care,  the  importance  of  the  faithful 
performance  of  their  duties,  and  become  aware 


that  the  life  of  the  Republic  depends  upon  the 
honesty,  fidelity,  integrity,  and  ability  with 
which  these  servants  of  the  people  transact 
their  business,  we  at  once  inquire  why  is  it 
that  some  system  has  not  been  devised  and  put 
in  operation  by  which  the  people  can  obtain 
the  best  talent  in  their  service  for  the  money 
appropriated  for  it?  These  administrative 
offices  are  the  nervous  system  of  the  Republic, 
and  through  them  its  vital  energies  must  be 
made  known.  Every  one  who  has  studied  the 
political  history  of  this  country  and  of  that  from 
which  its  laws  and  customs  have  been  derived 
can  furnish  his  own  answer  to  the  question  just 
stated.  Howevereach  answer  might  bephrased, 
they  would  all  concur  in  the  great  fact,  that  for 
the  money  it  pays  there  is  no  Government  in 
the  world  more  poorly  served  than  ours.  With- 
out elaborating  the  matter,  the  evidence  taken 
by  the  committee  proves,  what  every  one  be- 
lieves, that  these  subordinate  officers  are  ap- 
pointed in  the  main  from  political  or  personal 
Considerations)  to  which  the  qualilications  of 
merit,  integrity,  skill,  fidelity,  and  patriotism 
are  compelled  to  yield.  If  any  one  were  to 
undertake  to  devise  a  system  by  which  the 
greatest  amount  of  inexperience  and  incom- 
petency should  be  brought  into  the  public  ser- 
vice, he  could  not  invent  one  which  would 
supersede  the  present  in  that  bad  eminence. 

SUCCESS  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES. 

This  subject  attracted  the  attention  of  thought- 
ful men  long  before  it  was  acted  upon  in  any 
of  the  western  civilized  nations.  Boswell,  in 
his  life  of  Johnson,  records  the  following  con- 
versation a  hundred  years  ago: 

"Sir  Alexander  [Macdonald]  observed  that  the 
chancellors  in  Eastland  are  chosen  from  views  much 
inferior  to  the  oflice,  being  chosen  from  temporary 
political  views. 

Why, sir. in  such  aGovernraent  as  ours 
no  man  is  appointed  to  an  ollice  because  he  is  the 
fittest  for  it;  nor  hardly  in  any  other  Government, 
because  I  here  are  so  many  connections  and  depend- 
9  to  be  studied.  A  despotic  Power  may  choose 
a  man  to  an  office  merely  because  be  is  thefittest  lor 
it.    The  king  of  Prussia  may  do  it." 

This  result  has  been  achieved  not  only  in 
Prussia,  but,  so  far  as  regards  the  minor  offices, 
in  England  also;  and  the  success  in  these  Gov- 
ernments is  so  great  and  so  beneficial  as  to 
encourage  the  attempt  to  obtain  the  same  end 
in  our  own.  The  science  of  government  is 
progressive;  and  statesmen  should  not  over- 


look the  fact  that  great  discoveries  have  been 
made  in  the  laws  that  govern  nations,  as  well 
as  in  those  of  nature,  and  that  improvement 
and  development  are  common  to  both. 

LEADING  FEATURES  OF  TIIE  BILL. 

As  the  evil  which  the  bill  now  reported  is 
designed  to  remove  is  of  such  great  magni- 
tude, so  the  remedy  for  it  is  thoroughly  radical, 
in  the  best  sense  of  that  word.  It  does  away 
with  all  personal  influence ;  bribery  of  all  kinds, 
either  by  personal  recommendation  or  polit- 
ical reward,  becomes  impossible.  It  destroys 
all  political  or  personal  patronage.  Zeal  in 
pushing  the  claims  of  a  friendly  politician  is 
not  admitted  to  be  evidence  of  fitness  for  an 
appraiser's  place  in  a  custom-house.  Activity 
at  primary  meetings  or  in  party  conventions  is 
not  to  be  considered  conclusive  evidence  of 
fitness  for  handling  the  people's  money.  Skill 
in  using  money  at  elections  is  not  to  be  deemed 
the  best  proof  of  capacity  for  collecting  the 
revenues.  Vigilance  in  canvassing  registra- 
tion or  alertness  in  challenging  voters  at  the 
polls  will  not  weigh  much  in  favor  of  an  appli- 
cant for  a  clerkship  in  the  Pension  Bureau  or 
in  the  Quartermaster  General's  department. 
In  short,  the  bill  proposes  a  means  of  discov- 
ering the  absolute  fitness  of  the  person  desir- 
ing to  enter  the  public  service  for  the  particu- 
lar branch  of  the  service  to  which  he  wishes 
to  devote  himself. 

The  bill  does  not  exclude  or  interfere  with 
the  constitutional  power  of  the  heads  of* 
Departments  to  make  appointments  to  their 
subordinate  offices.  It  limits  that  power  to 
selections  from  a  class  of  persons  whose  fit- 
ness for  such  employment  shall  be  decisively 
ascertained.  In  the  Army  and  Navy  such 
questioning  is  had,  not  only  at  the  outset, 
but  at  each  stage  of  the  novitiate's  career; 
and  the  beneficial  result  is  shown  in  the  great 
names  that  have  illustrated  each  branch  of  the 
warlike  service.  But  what  renown  has  ever 
blazoned  the  name  of  any  person  who  has 
entered  and  continued  in  the  subordinate  civil 
service  of  the  Government?  Vital  as  the  effi- 
ciency of  that  service  is  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Government,  who  seeks  employment  in  it  from 
motives  of  patriotism,  who  enters  upon  it  as  a 
career,  who,  when  once  engaged  in  it,  feels 
that  his  place  is  as  sure  as  his  merit? 


G 


PEESENT  VICIOUS  MODE  OP  APPOINTMENT. 

I  might  multiply  these  questions,  to  which 
none  but  disheartening  answers  could  be  given. 
To  make  the  subject  more  glear  take  a  single 
custom-house  as  an  example.  Each  consid- 
erable custom-house  has  three  officers  of  pres- 
idential appointment,  the  collector,  the  naval 
officer,  and  the  surveyor.  Each  of  these  must 
receive  confirmation  from  the  Senate.  We 
will  admit  that  none  but  competent  persons 
can  pass  that  ordeal.  But  in  the  great  ma- 
jority of  cases  the  men  who  receive  these  ap- 
pointments have  not  received  the  education, 
and  have  not  had  the  experience  to  qualify 
them  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  their 
offices.  But  suppose  them  to  be  capable  of 
learning  and  to  have  learned  the  duties  of  their 
offices,  for  the  performance  of  all  these  duties 
they  are  entirely  dependent  upon  their  subor- 
dinates ;  and  each  and  all  of  them  are,  under 
the  law,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  or  by  the  collector  of  the  port. 
It  may  be  assumed  that  both  the  Secretary  and 
the  collector  are  politicians,  and  prefer  to  have 
their  political  friends  in  office;  and  that  under 
the  custom  that  has  prevailed  since.  President 
Jackson's  time,  they  will  strain  some  points 
in  favor  of  their  friends.  The  result  is  that 
the  collector  is  an  autocrat,  so  far  as  concerns 
the  appointment  of  all  his  subordinates.  A 
very  pleasant  thing  for  the  partisans  of  an 
Administration  in  power;  but  how  does  the 
Government  fare  under  such  a  system  ?  How 
are  the  revenues  collected  by  which  the  more 
direct  taxes  upon  the  people  are  lightened? 
Let  us  see. 

ITS  EVILS  ILLUSTRATED. 

In  the  theory  of  the  revenue  laws  every  ship 
entering  any  one  of  our  ports  is,  with  her  cargo, 
in  the  custody  of  the  revenue  officers  until  the 
duties  upon  all  dutiable  goods  in  her  cargo 
are  paid  or  secured  according  to  law.  The 
surveyor  of  the  port  and  his  subordinates  first 
take  possession  of  the  ship  and  cargo  and  hold 
possession  or  supervision  of  them  till  the 
duties  are  paid'or  the  goods  are  deposited  in 
the  bonded  warehouses.  All  the  dutiable 
goods  that  enter  the  ports  of  the  United  States 
are  for  at  least  twenty-four  hours  in  the  charge 
of  these  subordinates  of  the  surveyors  of  the  cus- 
toms.   And  the  evidence  which  the  committee 


has  taker,  shows  that  these  subordinates  are  the 
creatures  of  the  collector,  almost  uniformly 
politicians  of  the  lowest  grade,  appointed  to 
these  posts  hf  inspectors  and  night  watchmen 
for  their  political  services  at  ward  or  primary 
meetings,  and  too  often  from  their  relation- 
ship to  prominent  politicians,  and  that,  with 
here  and  there  a  rare  exception,  they  have  no 
peculiar  fitness  for  the  duties  they  undertake 
or  skill  in  the  performance  of  them.  They  are 
liable  to  be  removed  and  persons  wholly  inex- 
perienced appointed  in  their  places  at  any 
moment.  So  prevalent  has  been  the  propensity 
to  make  changes  within  the  last  two  years  that 
some  surveyors  testify  that  they  do  not  know 
at  the  close  of  one  day  what  men  their  force 
will  be  composed  of  for  the  performance  of 
their  duties  on  the  next.  During  every  night, 
in  every  port  and  at  every  wharf  in  the  United 
States,  every  cargo  of  dutiable  goods  is,  theo- 
retically, in  the  charge  of  these  inspectors 
and,  night  watchmen.  Imagine  a  steamship 
with  a  cargo  which  ought  to  pay  a  million 
in  duties  lying  at  a  wharf  patrolled  by  one  of 
these  inspectors  just  appointed  for  his  merito- 
rious services  in  some  local  election  where 
money  had  been  freely  used  to  control  votes  ; 
or  a  fraudulent  invoice  submitted  to  the  scru- 
tiny of  a  clerk  who  had  obtained  his  office  as  a 
reward  for  his  skill  in  disposing  of  the  same 
corruption  fund.  Why  should  smuggling  be 
resorted  to  at  out-of-the-way  places  when  it 
can  be  accomplished  at  little  risk  or  cost  by 
some  gentle  persuasion  upon  these  vigilant 
servants  of  the  country?  Now  and  then  the 
really  vigilant  revenue  officers  make  a  seizure 
of  some  smuggler's  goods  among  the  bays 
and  inlets  of  the  intricate  sea-coast  of  Maine, 
or  along  the  northern  frontier,  or  the  vast 
coast  line  of  the  Gulf;  but  in  the  great 
ports  a  steamer's  cargo  can  be  run  through  in 
safety ;  not  the  entire  cargo  of  any  one  ship, 
but  enough  of  the  cargoes  of  all  the  steamships 
in  port  to  make  the  cargo  for  one.  It  was  tes- 
tified before  the  committee  that  on  two  occa- 
sions of  inspection  less  than  half  of  the  inspect- 
ors and  watchmen  on  the  Hudson  river  side 
of  New  York  were  at  their  posts,  and  that  when 
roundsmen  were  appointed  to  look  more  closely 
after  these  delinquents,  one  was  waylaid  and 
mortally  beaten  after  he  had  made  reports  of 


their  absence  from  their  stations,  and  another 
by  a  similar  assault  was  made  a  cripple  for 
life. 

HOW  TIIE  GREAT  FRAUDS  ARE  ACCOMPLISHED. 

The  bold  operator  in  contraband  goods 
chargeable  with  high  duties  does  not  use.  the 
low  schooner,-or  many  oared  boat  of  the  tra- 
ditional smuggler,  but  sails  or  steams  boldly 
into  the  large  ports,  and  watches  for  or  buys 
his  opportunity  for  landing  them.  When  the 
slave  trade  was  profitable  the  slavers  were 
fitted  out  in  the  port  of  New  York.  The  great 
highway  robbers  of  the  present  day  do  not 
waylay  travelers  on  barren  heaths  or  along 
lonely  highways  as  in  the  olden  time,  but  they 
pounce  upon  their  game  amid  the  crowds  that 
throng  Wall  street,  or  at  the  bank  counters  and 
in  brokers'  offices  in  that  neighborhood,  where 
people,  with  money  in  their  hands  or  pockets, 
are  constantly  going  and  coming.  The  whisky 
excise  is  not  materially  diminished  by  the  pro- 
duct of  small  stills  in  unfrequented  places,  in 
the  swamps  or  among  mountains,  but  the  great 
illicit  distilleries  are  found  intrenched  in  the 
compact  portions  of  large  cities,  and  they  have 
recently  been  found  so  strongly  fortified  in  some 
places  in  and  near  the  city  of  New  York,  and  so 
well  defended,  that  they  have  had  to  be  taken 
by  assault.  So,  the  great  frauds  and  thefts  upon 
the  customs'  revenue  are  accomplished  in  the 
great  ports ;  and  now  that  the  importation  of 
certain  articles  which  are  charged  with  high 
duties  has  fallen  almost  altogether  into  the 
hands  of  foreigners,  who  never  intend  to  be- 
come citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  who 
owe  no  allegiance  to  and  have  no  respect  for 
our  Government,  but  consider  it  a  legitimate 
object  of  plunder,  the  wonder  is  that  we  collect 
as  much  revenue  as  we  do. on  that  class  of  ar- 
ticles. The  ingenuity  of  this  class  of  smug- 
glers almost  surpasses  belief;  but  the  great 
fact  of  the  existence  of  this  smuggling,  which 
causes  a  loss  of  millions  annually  to  the*  Gov- 
ernment, is  fully  proved.  And  the  evidence 
warrants  my  saying  that  this  great  amount  of 
smuggling  could  not  be  accomplished  without 
connivance  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  officers 
nf  the  Government. 

EVIL  EFFECT  OF  THIS  SYSTEM  ON  EMPLOYES. 

The  report  will  show  some  of  the  curiosi- 
ties of  the  business.     We  do  not  seek  to  disguise 


the  cause  of  the  inefficiency  (to  use  the  mildest 
term)  of  these  officers.  They  are  all  appointed 
upon  political  or  personal  grounds,  and  as  their 
tenure  of  office  is  insecure,  and  they  may  be 
removed  at  any  time  without  previous  notice 
and  without  cause,  they  do  the  least  they  can 
to  earn  their  salaries.  To  use  a  favorite  phrase 
with  them,  they  "  make  the  most  of  their  time.'' 
Indeed,  if  anyone  should  prove  faithful  and 
vigilant,  and  not  only  see  that  persons  dealing 
with  the  Government  act  fairly,  but  also  report 
any  delinquencies  of  their  fellows,  their  tenure 
of  office  would  be  more  insecure,  and  any  repe- 
tition .of  such  fidelity  to  the  Government  would 
be  the  occasion  of  their  removal.  One  of  the 
worst,  if  not  the  very  worst,  feature  in  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  service  is  that  good  and 
faithful  officers  are  unwilling  to  testify  as  to  what 
they  know  of  the  "irregularities"  (to  use  the 
fashionably  mild  term)  of  their  associates.  For 
there  are  many  good  and  faithful  servants  who 
do  the  work  of  these  unfaithful  politicians. 
Men  of  character,  of  families,  of  long  service, 
who  have  been  unwilling  to  have  their  names 
go  upon  the  record  as  witnesses  to  the  faults 
of  their  associates,  lest  they  should  be  imme- 
diately dismissed  by  their  superiors,  or  lest  their 
places  should  be  made  so  uncomfortable  by 
their  "irregular"  associates,  that  they  would  be 
compelled  to  resign.  Nothing  has  impressed 
me  more  with  the  rottenness  and  corruption  of 
our  present  want  of  system  than  the  tears  of 
these  old  and  faithful  servants,  who  begged 
that  they  might  not  be  placed  upon  the  record 
as  witnesses  to  the  faithlessness  of  their  asso- 
ciates, and  that  it  might  not  even  be  known 
that  they  had  been  called  to  be  witnesses. 
Nothing  but  the  assurance  of  secrecy  and  the 
protection  given  by  law  to  persons  giving  such 
testimony,  could  procure  us  evidence  of  how 
the  people  were  being  plundered  instead  of 
being  served. 

The  testimony  with  regard  to  the  inefficiency 
of  the  internal  revenue  service  comes  from  so 
many  other  sources  that,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
state  the  substance  of  the  evidence  taken  by 
this  committee.  The  report  collates  it  into  a 
clear  result. 

NO  ENCOURAGEMENT  FOR  FIDELITY. 

Under  the  present  practice  all  of  these  inferior 
officers,  many  thousands  in   number,  are   ap- 


8 


pointed  by  some  superior  officer,-  and  their 
tenure  of  office,  as  well  as  their  appointment, 
depends  entirely  on  his  will  and  pleasure. 
With  few  exceptions  all  these  officers  are  well 
paid  for  the  services  they  render,  but  with  rare 
exceptions  they  do  not  render  the  services 
of  which  they  are  capable.  One  report  says 
of  these  politicians  who  are  quartered  upon 
our  customs  that  they  consider  the  custom- 
houses as  "eleemosynary  institutions  where 
the  faithful  can  be  at  rest."  Another  speaks 
of  a  clerk  in  one  of  the  Departments,  (ap- 
pointed upon  the  urgent  solicitation  of  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress,)  who  was  reminded  from  day 
to  day  that  his  work  was  not  an  equivalent  for 
his  salary.  "Work,"  said  he;  "I  worked  to 
get  here ;  you  surely  do  not  expect  me  to  work 
any  longer."  All  speak  of  the  inefficiency  of 
persons  so  nominated.  And  all  of  this  vast 
army  of  persons  in  the  civil  service,  more  than 
twenty  thousand,  excluding  postmasters,  live 
and  perform  the  semblance  of  working,  under 
that  anomaly,  that  great  solecism  in  our  repub- 
lican institutions,  that  curse  upon  him  that  gives 
and  him  that  partakes,  partisan  patronage.  It 
works  not  only  a  blight  upon  those  who  become 
bound  by  its  toils,  but  it  repels  the  ingenuous 
youth,  who  would,  if  the  field  were  open,  gladly 
compete  for  places  in  the  public  service.  A 
person  who  gains  a  place  under  this  practice  has 
no  inducement  to  excel  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties.  His  place  may  be  taken  to-morrow 
for  some  more  powerfully-backed  competitor ; 
nay,  his  very  excellence  may  be  a  reason  why 
his  less  industrious  companions  should  urge  his 
removal.  But  all,  the  excellent — and  there  are 
many  of  them — the  incompetent,  the  lazy,  the 
vicious,  the  unworthy — for  such  are  to  be  found 
in  the  service — all  work  or  pretend  to  work 
under  the  blighting  influence  of  favor  and  pat- 
ronage. To  those  who  in  arms  serve  the  Repub- 
lic a  glorious  career  and  great  rewards  are  open  ; 
they  serve  in  the  eyes  of  their  superiors  and  of 
the  nation,  and  when  success  crowns  their  skill 
and  daring,  some  ray  of  glory  falls  upon  their 
swords  and  some  reward  or  the  sure  promise 
of  it  makes  lightsome  their  arduous  services. 
Their  exploits  are  the  theme  of  the  orator's 
eloquence,  and  their  names  the  people  delight 
to  honor.  But  to  the  poor  drudge  in  the  civil 
service  there  never  comes  one  ray  of  hope  ; 


glory  and  honor  are  never  named  to  him  ;  fame 
and  fortune  do  not  lure  him  to  his  daily  toil: 
and  he  is  not  even  sure  of  the  daily  toil  which 
will  bring  to  him  and  his  family  daily  bread. 
He  is  but  a  hanger-on  upon  fortune  and  favor ; 
no  career  is  open  to  him  ;  no  incentive  to  noble 
or  even  faithful  action.  He  may  at  any  mo- 
ment be  disgraced  without  cause,  and  with  the 
highest  merit  be  turned  adrift  to  starve.  No 
service  that  he  can  perform  is  distinguished  by 
public  notice;  no  report  ever  gives  his  name 
to  be  honored  by  his  countrymen  ;  his  lifetime 
is  a  dreary  routine  of  drudgery;  his  career  un- 
known to  fame,  his  death  unnoticed.  How, 
then,  can  we  expect  virtue  and  fidelity  among 
our  civil  servants?  We  may  well  apply  th» 
indignant  query  of  the  Roman  satirist : 

Quis  mint  virtutem  amplectitur  ipsam, 
Praemia  si  tollis  ? 

What  hope  of  faithful  service  if  it  is  to  be 
without  honor  or  reward  ? 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  this  disease  has 
penetrated  every  part  of  our  political  system. 
Unless  it  is  thoroughly  eradicated  it  must  end 
in  political  death.  This  Government  cannot  be 
carried  on  so  long  as  those  who  receive  the 
people's  money  are  studying  how  little  they  can 
render  for  what  they  receive,  instead  of  giving 
the  most  they  are  capable  of  to  the  people's 
service.  And  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  Gov- 
ernment can  endure  many  changes  of  admin- 
istration when  fifty  thousand  persons,  more 
than  the  entire  personnel  of  the  Army  and 
Navy,  are  liable  to  be  dismissed  from  the  public 
service  for  mere  opinion's  sake.  Such  shocks 
are  like  the  repeated  explosions  of  ordnance, 
which  must,  sooner  or  later,  end  in  the  disrup- 
tion of  the  firmest  metal. 

NECESSITY  FOR  JIAKIXG  THE  CIVIL  SERVICE  RESPECT- 
ABLE. 

Every  law  requiring  service  originates  in 
some  necessity  of  the  Government,  and  it  must 
be  so  framed  as  to  provide  sufficient  motive 
power  for  its  execution.  No  such  energizing 
element  is  infused  into  any  of  our  statutes  gov- 
erning the  civil  service.  Not  even  the  quality 
of  respectability  is  bestowed  upon  our  civil  ser- 
vants. A  certain  degree  of  suspicion,  of  dis- 
trust, of  depreciation,  even  though  it  be  born 
of  prejudice,  is  suffered  to  remain  over  all  of 
them.     There  is  not  sufficient  requirement  of 


9 


discipline,  or  encouragement  of  emulation,  to 
create  an  esprit  dc  corps,  in  any  department 
of  this  service.  Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  by 
a  b  stem  of  studied  depreciation  of  each  other, 
the  officers  of  each  branch  and  grade  of  the  civil 
service  were  striving  to  cultivate  their  own  dis- 
honor. They  congregate  or  separate  accord- 
ing to  their  partisan  affinities,  and  cultivate  no 
patriotic  feeling  in  common  as  servants  of  the 
Republic.  Social  standing  and  consideration 
by  reason  of  such  employment  is  not  thought 
of  by  any  one  of  them.  The  Administration 
is  always  saying,  in  effect,  to  each  of  its  civil 
servants,  ''Your  skill,  your  experience,  your 
long  and  faithful  service  are  as  nothing  to  us ; 
we  can  discharge  you  to-morrow,  and  at  once 
find  a  hundred  others  who  will  answer  our  pur- 
poses as  well."  Each  one  thus  suffers  a  stand- 
ing discredit.  His  place  is  due  to  accident,  and 
gives  him  no  title  to  respect.  It  implies,  rather, 
a  damaged  reputation  and  a  character  that  can 
be  tampered  with.  A  tide-waiter  can  be  nothing 
more,  nor  is  he  sure  of  even  being  that,  although 
he  proves  to  be  the  most  faithful  and  capable 
of  tide-waiters.  If  he  does  not  bury  his  talent 
himself,  it  is  buried  for  him,  and  his  possible 
skill  in  making  usance  by  it  can  avail  him  noth- 
ing. No  grades,  no  promotions,  no  hopes,  no 
honors, no  rewards,  are  open  to  the  most  faithful, 
diligent  and  honest  officer,  and  while  the  incen- 
tive to  excellence  in  service  which  these  might 
give  is  wholly  lost,  his  office  itself  gives  him 
no  character  or  social  position.  But  if  by  merit 
and'fidelity  the  tide-waiter  can  win  the  higher 
places  in  the  cusioms,  his  place,  himself,  and  the 
service  itself,  acquire  respectability.  The  cadet 
of  either  of  the  warlike  services  has  a  prestige 
in  this  regard  over  even  the  higher  grades  of 
the  civil  service.  All  doors  may  be  open  to  him, 
for  his  uniform  is  evidence  of  his  education, 
character,  and  of  an  opening  career.  Although 
the  lowest  subaltern,  he  may  become  a  general 
or  an  admiral.  A  lieutenant  or  an  ensign  has 
a  standing  in  society,  by  virtue  of  his  being  in 
the  service  of  the  Government,  but  there  is  no 
element  of  respectability  in  the  service  of  a 
clerk,  inspector,  or  special  agent,  which  would 
entitle  him  to  be  recognized,  even  by  a  member 
of  Congress.  I  cannot  believe  that  the  reason 
of  this  is  that  the  civil  service  is  in  itself  less 
worthy  of  respect  than  the  military,  but  is  it  not 


because  the  element  of  honor,  which  is  inherent 
in  the  one,  has  not  hitherto  been  added  to  the 
other  ?  All  serve  alike  under  the  flag,  and  while 
the  glory  cannot  be  equal,  no  discredit  should 
be  cast  on  either  class  of  public  servants  by 
reason  of  their  service. 

We  propose  to  lay  to  the  root  of  this  great 
corruption  not  only  the  ax  but  the  spade,  and 
to  leave  neither  seed  nor  succulent  root  of  these 
vicious  practices.  As  a  general  rule  it  maybe 
stated  that  very  few  candidates  for  the  public 
service  have  presented  themselves  who  have 
succeeded  in  other  business.  Not  that  this 
rule  is  universal,  or,  if  universal,  that  it  has 
not  provided  the  Government  with  many  good 
officers;  but  every  one  knows  that  men  who 
prosper  in  the  active  business  pursuits  of  life 
are  seldom  candidates  for  Government  offices. 
If  any  young  man  in  a  family  of  influential 
political  connections  has  not  shown  sufficient 
talent  to  justify  the  belief  that  he  can  earn  a 
living  in  business,  or  in  any  of  the  learned  pro- 
fessions, or  if  any  one  who  has  not  succeeded 
in  the  career  which  he  may  have  chosen,  hap- 
pens to  have  political  friends,  we  are  quite  sure 
to  find  his  name  mentioned  as  being  a  suitable 
person  to  fill  some  Government  office.  The 
appointing  power  has  too  often  yielded  to  such 
solicitations.  Men  of  this  negative  reputation 
for  talent,  whose  indolence,  indecision,  and 
want  of  character,  or  whom  even  positive  vice, 
have  disqualified  for  success  in  the  open  com- 
petition of  life,  seek  and  obtain  shelter  under 
Governmental  patronage. 

EETTEE   RECRUITS  TO  BE  OBTAINED  FOR  THE  SERVICE. 

While  giving  credit  to  the  ability,  the  integ- 
rity, and  the  patriotism  of  many  whom  we  find 
in  the  public  service,  how  can  we  prevent  the 
ingress  of  the  ignorant,  the  incompetent,  the 
indolent,  the  corrupt,  the  vicious,  and  the  posi- 
tively criminal ?  IIow  can  we  dislodge  those 
of  these  classes  who  have  already  secured 
places  in  the  service  ?  They  seem  to  feel  them- 
selves safely  intrenched,  so  as  to  defy  attack. 
The  pressure  of  the  investigations  author:::  rl 
by  this  bill  will  dislodge  many,  but  the  certainty 
of  the  remedy  is  in  its  future  application.  The 
new  system  will  not  admit  of  recruits  to  the 
public  service  from  any  of  those  classes  of  per- 
sons. The  service  is  to  be  supplied  from  the 
educated,    earnest,    patriotic,   and   ingenuous 


10 


youths  among  the  American  people.  We  pro- 
pose to  cleanse'  the  stalls  of  political  corrup- 
tion, as  the  stable  of  the  Grecian  king  was  said 
to  have  been  cleansed  of  old.  The  pure,  fresh 
stream  of  a  river  turned  from  its  course  washed 
away  the  unclean  accumulations  of  a  genera- 
tion ;  and  we  now  propose  to  turn  into  our 
Augean  stable  the  vigorous,  uncorrupted  life 
of  the  youth  of  America,  and,  when  the  cor- 
ruptions are  swept  away,  to  open  to  it  a  career 
in  which  the  patriotic  heart  can  take  pride. 
We  cannot  expect  this  proposed  change  of 
system  to  become  at  once  a  perfect  success. 
Many  will  become  stained  in  contact  with  the 
existing  corruptions  and  fall  di'shonored  and 
disgraced ;  many  more  will  become  appalled 
and  disheartened  at  the  task  they  have  under- 
taken, but  their  places  will  be  filled  with  better 
and  braver  men,  whose  final  triumph  will  be 
assured  and  certain.  Many  who  listen  to  me 
have  seen  our  brave  youths  by  hundreds  fall 
in  their  assaults  upon  the  fortresses  within 
which  the  enemies  of  the  Republic  have  stood 
intrenched.  And  so  in  the  renovation  of  the 
public  service  many  will  go  down  and  perish 
morally  in  the  attempts  to  overcome  by  as- 
sault the  Vicksburgs,  the  Port  Hudsons,  the 
Fort  Fishers  of  our  customs  and  revenue 
departments,  where  the  thieves  and  their  asso- 
ciates now  sit  intrenched  and  feel  secure. 

But  this  stream  of  vigorous,  honest  man- 
hood will  soon  cleanse  and  reinvigorate  the 
service  of  the  Republic.  The  intelligent  and 
patriotic  youth  who  have  aspired  to  serve  their 
country  have  never  yet  had  a  fair  chance.  The 
class  of  men  who  seek  these  offices,  and  the 
mode  by  which  they  attain  them,  is  well  known 
to  us.  And  one  of  the  great  vices  of  the  pres- 
ent practice  is  that  few  besides  persons  of  such 
exceptional  description  can  hope  to  gain  these 
appointments.  There  must  be  some  political 
associations,  some  service  rendered  by  the  ap- 
plicant or  his  friends  to  the  party  of  the  Admin- 
istration, and  perhaps  some  personal  and  social 
relations  combined  with  the  political  to  enable 
the  applicant  to  obtain  even  a  hearing.  Every 
one  of  us  knows  the  characteristics  of  these  men- 
dicants for  office.  It  is  not  necessary  to  picture 
them  by  description.  It  is  enough'  to  know 
that  it  is  not  with  such  persons  that  the  busi- 
ness of  the  world  is  to  be  accomplished.  Never 


have  the  young  men  of  the  country  or  the  faith- 
ful and  deserving  soldiers  had  an  opportunity 
to  have  their  merits  for  the  public  service  con- 
sidered. What  chance  has  the  intelligent  son 
of  a  mechanic  who  has  shown  signs  of  prom- 
ise at  the  free  schools,  or  of  a  farmer  in  Illi- 
nois or  Kentucky,  who  has  gained  a  knowledge 
of  business  in  the  intervals  of  toil,  to  get  into 
the  rmblic  service?  None  whatever,  unless  he 
consents  to  learn  and  perform  all  a  politician's 
tricks,  or  to  seek  the  aid  of  those  accomplished 
in  such  arts.  He  must  in  some  degree  lose  or 
seem  to  disregard  a  character  for  integrity, 
straightforwardness,  and  manly,  upright  con- 
duct before  he  can  be  acknowledged  as  a  suit- 
able candidate  for  office.  All  the  qualities  that 
would  make  a  good  officer  he  must  in  some 
way  have  seemed  to  have  lost.  Perhaps  not  an 
inapt  training  for  the  melancholy  service  they 
enter  upon,  but  it,  is  not  one  that  is  sure  to 
produce  good  public  servants. 

It  is  proposed  to  change  all  this.  The  en- 
trance to  the  public  service  is  to  be  thrown  open 
to  all.  The  intelligent  son  of  the  mechanic, 
the  hopeful  child  of  the  family  of  the  farmer, 
the  young  soldier,  the  youth  of  talent  from 
any  sphere  of  life,  and  from  every  part  of  the 
country,  may  boldly  and  freely  enter  the  pres- 
ence of  the  examining  officers  and' require 
them  to  test  his  fitness  for  the  Government  ser- 
vice. Personal,  social,  or  political  influence, 
patronage  in  all  its  corrupting  forms,  can  no 
longer  introduce  their  favorites  and  push  back 
the  poor  and  worthy,  unknown  and  uribe- 
friended,  at  the  doorways.  Qualification  and 
merit,  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all,  are  what 
we  are  to  seek  and  to  do.  Palmam  qui  meruit 
ferat  should  be,  and  I  hope  I  may  be  able  to 
say  shall  be,  the  motto  of  our  service.  Let 
every  smart  boy  in  the  country  know  that  he 
has  a  fair  chance  for  employment  under  the 
Government  and  we  shall  soon  have  a  different 
class  of  servants  from  those  into  whose  hands 
the  public  business  has  now  fallen.  Under 
the  proposed  system  the  interest  of  the  Gov- 
ernment will  be  identical  with  that  of  its  ser- 
vants; its  protection  and  assurance  of  em- 
ployment will  cause  its  service  to  be  one  of 
pleasure  and  not  of  pain  and  anxiety;  its  honors 
and  rewards  will  make  it  a  service  of  love  and 
not  of  unappreciated  toil.     He  will  hold  an 


11 


assured  position  under  the  Government,  which 
his  superiors  must  recognize  with  the  Fame 
respect  that  he  yields  to  the  experience  and 
ability  by  which  they  hold  their  higher  places. 

PROPOSED  REFORM  DESTROYS  BUREAUOCRACY  AND 

PATRONAGE. 

It  has  been  most  strangely  objected  to  this 
salutary  reform  that  it  is  in  its  tendency 
bureaucratic,  exclusive,  aristocratic,  and  that 
the  system  was  formed  under  monarchic  institu- 
tions. Nothing  could  be  said  more  calumnious. 
It  is  our  present  system  that  is  borrowed  from 
that  of  monarchies,  and  gives  us  the  will  and 
choice  of  the  person  having  the  appointing 
power,  and  not  merit,  as  the  passport  to  office, 
as  under  monarchies  the  king  is  the  fountain 
of  honor  and  the  giver  of  employment.  No 
measure  could  be  more  republican  than  that 
which  we  now  present.  The  gates  of  the 
avenues  to  the  public  service  are  thrown  open 
to  all.  Merit  only  can  enter,  and  merit  only 
can  keep  its  place.  No  head  of  a  bureau  or 
even  of  a  Department  can  protect  his  favorites 
or  keep  his  friends  or  partisans  in  comfortable 
sinecures;  no  collector  of  the  customs  can  play 
the  autocrat  in  his  little  demesne.  The  whole 
service  will  be  alive  to  its  responsibilities.  It 
will  be  part  of  the  duty  of  an  officer  to  see  that 
every  other  performs  his.  No  customary  dere- 
lictions will  be  permitted  to  demoralize  the 
service,  and  no  local  peculiarities  to  interfere 
with  the  unity  of  performance  of  duty. 

In  monarchical  Governments,  with  hereditary 
aristocracies,  where  allegiance  is  due  to  the 
crown,  and  the  great  houses  are  the  bulwarks 
of  the  throne,  patronage,  through  which  alone 
the  children  of  the  people  can  enter  the  public 
service,  is  a  natural  if  not  a  necessary  element 
of  administration.  In  the  theory  of  those  Gov- 
ernments everything  depends  from  the  throne, 
descending  through  every  social  and  political 
relation,  until  the  chain  ends  before  the  people 
are  reached.  No  one  can  ascend  within  the 
charmed  circle  except  through  the  influence  or 
patronage  of  some  one  of  the  privileged  classes, 
and  the  gratitude  of  those  who  receive  these 
favors,  and  the  hopes-  of  those  who  expect 
them,  tend  to  strengthen  the  Government  amid 
all  changes  of  administration.  Those  who 
have  attained  official  position  feel  secure,  while 
those  wiio  seek  it  continue  to  cultivate  the 


favor  of  the  reigning  favorites  and  governing 
families.  But  here,  where  the  Government  is 
of  the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  the  ad- 
ministration should  always  endeavor  to  carry 
into  effect  their  will,  as  expressed  at  the  polls 
and  through  the  laws,  in  the  best  and  most 
effectual  manner,  this«system  of  patronage  is 
not  a  mere  solecism,  but  a  positive  evil.  It 
reverses  the  whole  theory  of  popular  govern- 
ment. That  Government  should  be  adminis- 
tered for  the  benefit  of  the  whole,  with  the 
instruments,  at  the  least  expense,  without  re- 
gard to  the  interests  of  any  classes  or  class,  or 
of  persons  or  partisans.  Yet  we  see  at  every 
change  of  administration  over  fifty  thousand 
persons  removed  from  office  to  make  way  for 
others  of  a  different  partisan  creed,  every  one 
of  whom  will  owe  his  appointment  to  some- 
thing other  than  personal  merit.  And  again 
all  these  are  liable  to  be  removed,  and  a  similar 
class  of  successors  appointed  at  the  next  change 
of  party.  If  patriotism  ever  prompted  the 
desire  for  office  such  a  system  would  tend  to 
eradicate  that  sentiment.  It  tends  to  weaken 
all  the  obligations  of  society  for  the  purpose 
of  strengthening  a  mere  party;  it  elevates  pri- 
vate interests  above  the  welfare  of  the  State; 
it  tends  to  disintegrate  the  political  fabric ;  and 
at  last,  as  we  have  felt  in  our  bitter  experience, 
it  destroys  allegiance  itself.  That  element 
which  invigorates  a  monarchy  corrupts  the  life 
of  a  republic. 

TUE  NEW  DEPARTMENT  TO  BE  MADE  FIRM  AND  STABLE 
BY  HAVING  TIIE  VICE  PRESIDENT  AS  CHIEF. 

But  I  hear  the  question  that  arises  in  the 
minds  of  all  that  listen  to  me :  how  can  the 
result  you  promise  be  accomplished  with  such 
machinery  as  Congress  can  create?  How  can  a 
mere  board  of  commissioners,  a  bureau,  stand 
at  the  door  of  all  the  Departments  and  say  who 
are  sufficiently  qualified  to  enter  into  the  pub- 
lic service  therein?  How  can  a  combination 
of  the  appointing  officers  be  presented  which 
would  crush  such  a  subordinate,  though  inde- 
pendent, bureau  ?  What  is  to  prevent  your 
statute  from  becoming  as  dead  a  letter  as  the 
provisions  of  the  act  of  1853  requiring  the 
examination  of  all  candidates  for   clerkships? 

The  objection  is  a  grave  one,  and  has  de- 
served and  received  serious  deliberation.  It 
has  been  met  bj  the  proposition  contained  in 


12 


the  bill  as  reported,  to  create  a  new  and  inde- 
pendent administrative  department  which  shall 
have  charge  of  the  business  of  selecting  the  can- 
didates for  these  offices,  whose  head  shall  be  the 
Vice  President  of  the  United  States.  So  grave, 
so  important,  and  yet  so  delicate  are  the  duties 
of  those  charged  with  this  selection,  that  it 
has  been  deemed  best  to  place  them  under  the 
protection  and  sanction  of  this  great  office. 
No  Department  can  feel  humiliated  at  receiv- 
ing its  novitiates  with  certificates  from  the 
ordeal  of  a  trial  department  of  which  their 
superior  is  the  chief.  And  it  is  time,  and  we 
believe  that  this  is  the  occasion  for  causing  this 
officer  to  perform  some  useful  functions  in  this 
Government.  The  presidency  of  the  Senate, 
as  the  sole  duty  of  this  officer,  is  rather  by  way 
of  diversion  and  ornament  than  of  usefulness  ; 
and  no  man's  self-respect  is  heightened  by  feel- 
ing that  his  only  importance  in  the  Government 
is,  that  while  he  holds  the  second  office  in  the 
Republic,  his  single  title  to  respect  is  in  the 
fact  that  by  fatal  accideut  to  the  first  officer  he 
will  accede  to  the  first  place  A  distinguished 
citizen,  the  grandson  of  a  Vice  President  and 
President,  and  the  son  of  a  President,  and  him- 
self once,  and  perhaps  hereafter  again  a  candi- 
date for  the  office  of  Vice  President,  has  writ- 
ten that  no  office  could  be  so  easily  lopped  off 
and  dispensed  with  in  our  Government  as  that 
of  the  Vice  Presidency.  Madison  called  it  an 
"unprofitable  dignity;"  and  Jefferson,  when 
he  accepted  the  place,  did  not  attempt  to  dis- 
)  guise  his  contempt  for  its  insignificance  in 
every  respect  except  that  of  being  the  stepping- 
stone  to  the  first  place  in  the  Republic. 

Once  when  President  Washington  started 
upon  his  tour  through  the  southern  States  in 
1791,  he  requested  the  Vice  President  to  attend 
and  to  preside  at  the  Cabinet  meetings  that 
might  be  held  in  his  absence,  and  this  was  the 
first  and  has  been  the  last  recognition  of  the 
Vice  President  as  a  possible  adviser  of  the 
President,  or  of  having  any  right  to  take  part 
in  theAdministration.  Although  elected  upon 
the  same  ticket  as  the  President,  and  thuscom,- 
mitted  to  the  policy  of  the  presidential  admin- 
istration, and  in  case  of  the  succession,  pre- 
sumed to  intend  to  carry  it  out,  he  has  been 
excluded  hitherto  from  all  voice  in  shaping  that 
policy,  and  except  in  the  instance  cited  has 


never  been  admitted  to  the  council  board. 
We  have  had  sufficiently  severe  lessons  of  the 
impolicy  and  injustice  of  this  course ;  and 
although  this  bill  does  not  give  him  the  right 
to  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet,  yet  it  adds  weight  to 
the  reasons  why  he  should  be  invited  to  become 
a  member  of  that  council.  It  will  also  have 
another  important  effect.  It  imposes  upon  the 
incumbent  of  that  office  some  of  the  gravest 
and  most  delicate  duties  in  the  administration 
of  this  Government.  The  people,  and  their 
representatives  in  the  nominating  conventions, 
will  be  careful  to  whom  they  offer  the  chance 
of  election  to  this  high  office.  They  will  not 
throw  it  away,  as  at  many  times  hitherto,  to 
a  mere  chief  of  a  faction,  whose  disaffection 
the  party  may  desire  to  conciliate ;  nor  to  a 
neophyte,  nor  to  a  renegade,  nor  to  an  apostate, 
whose  nomination  may  divide  the  adversary. 
But  they  will  find  it  to  their  interest  to  nom- 
inate a  person  qualified  not  only  to  administer 
the  mild  rules  of  the  Senate,  but  also  to  preside 
in  trials  for  impeachment,  and  have  the  learn- 
ing and  experience  in  administration  which  will 
qualify  him  to  be  the  chief  of  the  department 
of  the  civil  service,  and  not  only  to  select  the 
best  candidates  for  that  service,  but  also  to 
try  with  justice  and  impartiality  all  the  cases 
that  may  arise  whereby  any  of  these  subordin- 
ates may  lose  their  places.  Not  the  least  of 
the  advantages  of  the  proposed  measure  is 
that  the  people  may  obtain  candidates  for  the 
Vice  Presidency  of  a  higher  grade  of  talent 
and  character  than  many  that  they  have  been 
compelled  to  vote  for  or  against  heretofore. 

ECONOMIC  CONSIDERATIONS  FOR  THIS  REFORM. 

But  the  economic  considerations  for  this 
measure  are  the  main  grounds  upon  which  it 
is  urged  by  the  Committee  of  Retrenchment. 
What  has  been  said  is  but  the  repetition  of 
axioms.  All  will  agree  that  good  servants  in 
office  are  more  desirable  than  poor  ones  ;  that 
the  good  are  more  likely  to  be  obtained  by 
care  in  the  selection;  that  a  wise  choice  and 
judicious  approval  will  secure  the  fit  and 
reject  the  unfit;  that  such  means  of  choice 
with  beneficial  results  are  attainable  ;  and  that 
a  system  thus  constructed  and  operated  is  bet- 
ter than  the  no  system  which  we  now  have. 
But,  every  one  will  ask*,  how  about  the  cost  of 
it?     Will  not  the  expense  increase  with  the 


13 


admitted  benefit,  and  the  proportion  be  the 
same  in  the  end?  To  these  questions  we  are 
prepared  to  give  explicit  answers.  And  these 
answers  are  based  not  upon  conjecture,  or 
inference,  or  concurrence  of  opinion,  but  upon 
the  direct  and  positive  testimony  of  the  greater 
number  of  the  chief  oflicers  in  the  civil  service. 
The  preponderance  of  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
proposed  reform  is  so  great  that  there  can 
hardly  be  said  to  be  a  minority. 

The  committee  have  received  reports  from 
four  hundred  and  forty-six  (446)  officers  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate,  in  all  branches  of  the  civil 
service,  whose  subordinates  within  the  opera- 
tion of  this  act  number  twelve  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  nineteen,  (12,819;)  and  of  these 
officers,  three  hundred  and  sixty-two,  (362,) 
having  eleverrthousand  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
one  (11,561)  subordinates,  express  themselves 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  proposed  reform.  Of 
the  residue,  twelve  (12)  officers,  having  one 
hundred  and  forty-three  (143)  subordinates, 
express  a  decided  opposition  to  it,  and'the  re- 
mainder either  do  not  answer  the  vital  ques- 
tions at  all,  or  answer  them  evasively,  or  ex- 
i8  the  opinion  that  the  proposed  measure 
would  be  either  inapplicable  or  ineffectual  in 
their  districts.  This  minority  consists  chiefly 
of  postmasters  in  small  towns  and  collectors 
in  decayed  ports  or  in  internal  revenue  dis- 
tricts which  yield  an  insignificant  revenue. 
Wherever  the  business  of  the  Government  is 
large  there  is  a  call  for  active,  energetic,  in- 
telligent men  for  these  subordinate  offices,  and 
the  measure  is  favorably  considered. 

It  is  a  pleasure,  also,  to  recognize  in  their 
reports  the  uniform  and  unqualified  testimony 
in  favor  of  the  female  employes  of  the  Govern- 
ment. This  bill  proposes  to  give  them  an  as- 
sured position  in  the  service,  and  all  who  tes- 
tify upon  the  subject  agree  that  their  numbers 
may  be  increased  under  the  proposed  system 
with  profit  to  the  Government.  These  reports 
show  that  they  are  diligent  in  the  performance 
of  their  duties,  and  that  they  are  not  peculators 
or  thieves.  In  the  grades  of  offices  to  which  they 
have  been  assigned,  as  an  experiment  and  upon 
sufferance  hitherto,  there  are  no  more  honest, 
faithful,  and  capable  persons  in  the  service. 

The  answers  to  the  questions  submitted  by 
the  committee  support  the  propositions  in  every 


view,  and  especially  in  the  economic.  We  can 
state  the  result  of  this  evidence  in  the  brief 
proposition,  that  by  adopting  this  system  the 
Government  can  obtain  double  the  amount  of 
the  present  service  at  two  thirds  of  the  present 
expense.  The  immediate  cost  of  the  staff  of 
the  new  department  is  but  a  trifle  to  the  great 
saving  to  be  achieved  by  the  proper  performance 
of  their  duties.  The  losses  by  defalcations  which 
this  system  would  prevent  have  been -annually 
hitherto  more  than  tenfold  the  proposed  cost  of 
the  entire  department.  Besides,  the  fees  pre- 
scribed for  examinations  and  certificates  will 
make  this  department  nearly,  if  not  quite,  self- 
sustaining.  But  the  great  saving  will  be  in  the 
increase  of  the  collections.  If  this  Govern- 
ment had  its  dues  the  national  debt  would  soon 
be  extinguished.  Why  is  there  a  deficit  of  tens 
of  millions  in  the  tax  on  spirits?  Why  is  it  that 
whole  cargoes  elude  the  customs?  Why  is  it 
that  smugglers  are  the  chief  importers  on  our 
extended  frontier?  It  may  as  well  be  admitted 
and  stated  in  sharp  popular  phrase ;  the  smug- 
glers are  too  smart  for  the  revenue  officers.  I 
omit  here  designedly  the  element  of  corruption, 
and  assume  that  honesty  is  a  quality  of  all  the 
servants  of  the  Government.  But  talent  does 
not  necessarily  prefer  unlawful  courses  to  the 
lawful ;  and  the  design  of  this  measure  is  to 
secure  it  on  the  side  of  the  Government.  It  has 
been  announced  here  by  the  highest  authority, 
the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means,  that  there  are  few  frauds  upon  the  in- 
ternal revenue  which  are  accomplished  without 
the  connivance  of  some  official,  and  we  now 
seek  to  make  it  the  interest  as  well  as  the  duty 
of  every  official  to  refuse  such  connivance,  and 
to  become  wholly  devoted  to  the  service  of  the 
Government.  Finance  and  reveuue  are  being 
developed  into  a  science,  and  the  fiscal  service 
should becomeaprofession.  When  competent 
men  shall  be  trained  to  the  assessment  and  col- 
lection of  taxes  and  customs,  and  when  it  shall 
be  made  their  duty  to  report  the  results  of  their 
experience  to  their  departments  and  to  Con- 
gress, the  burdens  of  taxation  may  be  more 
wisely  apportioned  :  and,  if  not  actually  light- 
ened, may  be  so  distributed  as  to  be  less  severely 
felt.  ' 

THE  EEI'OEM  PRACTICABLE. 

I  do  not  fail  to  hear  the  scoffs  of  the  ene- 


14 


mics  of  this  Government  at  the  statement  of 
these  propositions.  They  affect  to  believe  that 
virtue  in  the  public  service  cannot  exist.  They 
are  continually  declaiming  that  the  Government 
cannot  collect  the  taxes  on  whisky  and  tobacco, 
nor  the  duties  on  articles  of  luxury.  Their 
reason  for  their  pretended  belief,  freely  offered, 
is  that  the  infirmity  of  human  nature  is  such 
that  it  cannot  resist  the  temptations  to  dere- 
liction of  duty  offered  by  those  whose  interest 
it  is  to  defraud  the  revenue.  Oaths,  they  say, 
will  not  prevent  this  corruption  ;  bonds  will  not 
furnish  sufficient  obligation  or  security;  and 
this  defiant  boast  has  been  almost  warranted  by 
the  history  of  our  civil  service.  Many  have 
been  the  defalcations,  and  few  the  recoveries 
from  sureties.  Many  have  been  the  omis- 
sions to  collect  the  Government  dues,  and  few 
the  removals  in  consequence.  Thousands  are 
now  drawing  their  salaries  from  the  Treasury 
who  know  that  their  delinquencies  have  cost 
that  Treasury  a  hundredfold  the  amount  they 
are  paid.  But  is  it  so  with  the  other  branches 
of  the  public  service?  Who  ever  loads  his 
declamations  with  cases  of  peculation  among 
the  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy?  Who 
ever  charges  them  with  connivance  at  stealing? 
Who  thinks  of  exacting  bonds  of  an  admiral, 
or  sureties  from  the  commander  of  a  depart- 
ment? And  why?  Because  their  honor  and 
the  good  of  the  service  are  one.  The  admiral 
of  a  fleet  may  disburse  more  than  the  collector 
of  a  port  receives ;  but  how  different  is  the 
position  of  each  in  the  national  service  !  I  de- 
sire to  see  the  collector  of  a  port  or  of  a  dis- 
trict raised  to  an  equal  position  to  that  of  a 
general  or  a  commodore,  but  it  can  only  be 
by  introducing  into  the  civil  service  the  same 
esprit  de  corps,  and  the  same  element  ofhonor, 
that  dignifies  and  secures  from  reproach  the 
service  of  arms. 

In  all  revolutions,  revolts,  and  civil  com- 
motions, from  the  most  ancient  times  to  the 
present,  historians  have  remarked  that  the 
chief  causes  of  these  evils  were  to  be  found 
in  the  civil  administration,  and  that  the  soldiers 
stood  aloof  until  the  necessities  of  the  State 
required  them  to  intervene.  The  cause  for 
this  has  been  found  not  so  much  in  their  dis- 
cipline as  in  their  patriotism;  the  State  had 
made  their  service  honorable,  and  their  honor 


became  a  bulwark  to  the  State.  Even  the  im- 
perial historian  of  our  times  has  recorded  that 
in  the  tumultuous  period  that  preceded  the  fall 
of  the  liberties  of  Rome,  as  in  those  that  pre- 
ceded his  own  reign,  honor  and  patriotism  had 
fled  from  the  civil  service  and  were  only  to  be 
found  under  the  flag. 

I  have  such  faith  in  the  intelligence  and  pa- 
triotism of  the  American  people  that  I  believe 
the  result  can  be  attained  in  the  service  and  arts 
of  peace  as  well  as  in  those  of  war  ;  and  under 
the  instructions  of  the  committee  I  urge  this 
measure  as  one  great  step  to  that  desired  end. 
When  I  say  that  we  estimate  the  saving  in  the 
expense  of  the  collection  of  the  revenues  at 
one  half  of  the  present  cost,  the  total  of  which 
is  fifteen  millions  annually,  and  that  the  ad- 
ditional amount  that  can  be  collected  from 
the  subjects  of  taxation  proposed  to  be  retained 
by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  is  at 
least  fifty  millions  in  the  internal  revenue  and 
twenty-five  millions  in  the  customs,  and  that 
we  have  the  evidence  io  show  that  our  esti- 
mates are  within  the  mark,  it  will  need  no 
figures  of  speech  in  addition  to  these  figures 
of  arithmetic  to  commend  to  our  heavily- 
taxed  constituents  the  merits  of  the  measure 
we  propose. 

To  insure  complete  and  immediate  success 
it  would  be  necessary  to  expel  all  the  thieves 
at  once  from  the  public  service.  This  must  be 
a  work  of  time.  The  thieves  infest  every  de- 
partment. They  are  to  be  found  in  the  small 
post  offices  as  well  as  in  the  great  custom- 
houses. They  are  like  the  trichina?  in  the  ani- 
mal system,  not  only  injurious  when  first  intro- 
duced, but  capable  of  infinite  reproduction  to 
the  danger  of  fatal  results.  There  is  no  branch 
of  the  service  where  they  are  not  to  be  found, 
and  their  example  is  so  contagious  that  hon- 
esty becomes  the  exception  instead  of  the  rule. 
There  is  no  cure  but  one  for  such  a  disease. 
No  new  pests  must  be  introduced.  Those  who 
have  effected  a  lodgment  may  be  killed  or  ex- 
cised. The  honest  and  intelligent  young  men 
who  will  enter  the  service  will  soon  drive  out 
many  who  are  lazy  and  corrupt,  by  exposure 
of  their  delinquencies.  We  may  not  even  be 
without  the  hope  that  some  of  the  thieves  may 
be  transferred  from  the  custom-houses  to  the 
penitentiaries.    But  prevention  is  the  only  sure 


15 


cause  of  cure.  While  the  doorways  are  thrown 
open  to  all  comers,  let  the  preliminary  ordeals 
and  the  subsequent  probations  be  such  that  the 
incompetent  and  unworthy  shall  all  be  turned 
back.  When  that  result  can  be  accomplished 
e^ery  citizen  will  feel  that  his  property,  and 
even  his  liberty  andhis  life,  willbe  more  secure. 

TIIE    MEASURE    ENTIRELY  IN   HARMONY  WITH  REPUB- 
LICAN INSTITUTIONS. 

In  short,  Mr.  Speaker,  this  measure  is  in- 
tended to  complete  and  perfect  the  great  idea 
of  the  Republic.  Before  the  people,  for  every 
elective  office  in  which  conformance  to  the 
policy  of  an  Administration  is  a  qualification, 
there  is  always  an  open  competition.  The  peo- 
ple judge  of  the  qualifications  of  every  can- 
didate for  political  office,  and  decide,  for  the 
time  being,  peremptorily.  The  officers  so 
elected  by  the  people  are  accountable  to  the 
people,  and  their  supervision  is  constant,  se- 
vere, and,  in  the  main,  accurate.  But,  with 
regard  to  administrative  officers,  the  aids  of 
the  people's  servants,  there  is  no  such  criti- 
cism, accountability,  or  judgment.  It  is  pro- 
posed to  create  a  tribunal  which  shall  accom- 
plish all  that  could  be  attained  from  the  wisest 
popularjudgment.  When  this  shall  be  done 
the  idea  of  the  Republic  will  be  complete;  the 


people  will  elect  to  political  office  those  with 
whom  they  are  best  satisfied,  and  will  secure  in 
the  administrative  offices  the  services  of  the 
best  talent  and  the  highest  integrity  and 
patriotism  they  can  obtain.  Certainly  the  re- 
sult is  to  be  desired ;  and  the  proposed  meas- 
ure may  prove  to  be  the  means  of  securing  its 
accomplishment. 

NOT  OF  A  TEMPORARY  OR  PARTISAN  CHARACTER. 

It  is  not  urged  as  a  measure  of  temporary 
expediency,  or  to  promote  any  partisan  inter- 
est ;  its  purpose  is  to  place  the  administrative 
departments  of  this  Government  in  the  hands 
of  skillful  and  honest  men,  and  thus  to  renew 
the  health  and  life  of  the  Republic.  Above 
all  others,  it  is  a  measure  ad  firmandam  rem- 
publicam.  The  structure  of  our  Government 
is  satisfactory  to  all,  and  whatever  difference 
of  opinion  there  may  be  about  the  first  prop- 
osition in  the  well-known  couplet  respecting 
the  forms  of  government,  we  can  all  agree, 
granting  us  the  Republic,  upon  that  expressed 
in  its  last  line  : 

"That  which  is  best  administered  is  best." 

I  now  move  to  postpone  the  further  consid- 
eration of  the  bill  till  Wednesday,  the  3d  day 
of  June,  after  the  morning  hour. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 


'S3 


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